This is not to say that I identify with any Peres, Sharon or Netanyahu, but rather to point out that the Israeli political scene is rather complex. Furthermore, Peres does not have the same meaning for Europeans as he does for Israelis. Peres is a media darling in Europe. He says all the right things etc. Many of the things he says do not go represent the political views of a substantial portion of the population, any more than do super right wing statements made by Avidgor Lieberman or the super-religious statements made by Eli Yishai. Telling an Israeli "well, what would Peres say" is likely to elicit an emphatic "and I should care about this why"?

The flag is up because I like it. It is funny. It is cool, funky and very in-your-face. It is strong. It is an utter rejection of the shtetl-Jew, "gotta suck up or they will kill us" mentality and it embraces the "do for and depend on ourselves" mentality.

It is an attitude that, to some extent (emphasis on "some"--as in, not 100%), we must have if we want to survive here in this neck of the woods.

If you do not agree, no problem. I respect your opinion. I simply do not agree with it.

Marshymallow, you could have a look at Dutchblog Israel at http://yonathanbert.blogspot.com/he has ( and not because he is Dutch)one of the ever best blogs with tremendous good cartoons like Fokke & Sukke.

Gila, your country does have + 200 nuclear warheads, so where is the problem with suvival.

To me the flag is a symbol of unity, home, shelter and ........,to make a point I do not need to mutilate it.

As for Shimon Peres, the both of you are just jealous he can do what ever he likes and you can't, and is of course a gentleman.

New to My Shrapnel? Start at the beginning:

About Me

Message from the Bombing Victim Muppet

I am, of course, neither sad, nor heroic nor particularly victimized. What I am is an "ordinary Joe" who was seriously injured six years ago in a suicide bombing while waiting for a bus at the Machane Yehuda open air market in Jerusalem.

Ever since I learned how to write, writing has served as a sort of therapy for me. In the months and years after the bombing, I did an enormous amount of writing. What I was thinking. What I was feeling. How the world reacted to me. How my bombed-out self reacted to the world. Some of the articles were sent to friends and relatives via email lists. Many more of them just sat on my computer. I always meant to do something with them.

Of course, I never got around to it.

This year, I promised myself that I would, at last do something. And since blogging is the best way to do something without having to do all that much (no publishers, no rejections, no work apart from editing), I decided that this was the way to go.

Please comment. I am putting these out so that people will read them. Let me know that you are reading.